A Study Of Mandarin Y�'u Measure Construction: Based On A/D-alignment Model

From the perspective of cognitive grammar(Langacker 1987,1991,2008),based on the A/D-alignment Model(牛保义2008b,2011a),by employing hypothetical-deductive method,this dissertation investigates mandarin y�'u Measure Construction(hereinafter y MC)with the purpose of constructing a model to explain the cognitive function of component structures in y MC,the semantic construction process of y MC,and the component constraint in y MC.This construction consists of three parts, namely a Measured Subject(hereinafter MS), y�'u/méiy�'u(hereinafter y�'u), and a Measure Object(hereinafter MO), which are illustrated by the examples in(1-9).(1)目前有污染的乡镇企业占40%,其中重度污染的有10%。muqian y�'uwurande xiangzhenqiye zhan 40%, qizhong zhongduwurande y�'u 10%.‘Currently, polluted township enterprises account for 40%, of which 10% are heavilypolluted.’(2)巨石加上运石卡车的重量有150吨左右,jushi jiashang yunshikache de zhongliang y�'u 150 dun zuoyou‘The huge rock plus transport truck has a weight of about 150 tons,’(3)�'�上的鲤鱼有三斤重。diaoshangde liyu y�'u sanjin zhong.‘The carp trolled from water is 1.5 kilograms in weight.’(4)卫东走进戏水大厅,这里热气扑脸,面积有足球场大,空间则有七、八层楼高。weidong zoujin xishuidating, zheli reqipulian, mianji y�'u zuqiuchang da, kongjian zey�'u qibacenglou gao.‘Weidong entered the swimming hall, where it was hot, with an area as large as afootball field and a space about seven to eight stories high.’(5)我们掉转方向往回爬了没有五米,前边的大金突然停了下来,women diaozhuan fangxiang wanghui pa le méiy�'u wumi, qianbiande dajin turanting le xialai,‘We turned around to climb back for less than five meters when Dajin suddenlystopped in front of us,’(6)新华保险的上市在意料之中,已经传了有几个月了Xinhuabiaoxian de shangshi zai yiliaozhizhong, yijing chuan le y�'u jige yue le‘NCI’s going public is expected, which has been rumored for several months’(7)船没有人跑得快。/*船有人跑得快。chuan méiy�'u ren paode kuai. /*chuan y�'u ren paode kuai.‘A boat runs not as fast as people./*A boat runs as fast as people.’(8)打�'球没有踢足球好玩。da paiqiu méiy�'u ti zuqiu haowan.‘Playing volleyball is not so funny as playing football.’(9)大人没有小孩会演戏。daren méiy�'u xiaohai huiyanxi.‘Adults are not so good at acting as children.’By observing the above examples,we can find the following facts.Syntactically,the y MC is a structure integrated by y�'u with MS and MO,as MS+y�'u+MO.First,MS is formed by NP or VP,such as重度污染的zhongduwurande‘those heavily polluted’,重量zhongliang‘weight’,面积mianji‘area’,空间kongjian‘space’,鲤鱼liyu‘carp’,船chuan‘boat’,or我们调转方向往回爬了women diaozhuan fangxiang wanghui pa le‘we turned around to climb back’,已经传了yijing chuan le‘has been rumored’,打�'球da paiqiu‘playing volleyball’.Second,y�'u is formed by y�'u/méiy�'u.Third,MO can be formed by number,quantitative phrase,quantitative phrase+adjective,NP+adjective,VP+adjective,NP+VP,e.g.10%,150吨150dun‘150 tons’,五米远wumi yuan‘five meters away’,足球场大zuqiuchang da‘as large as a football field’,人跑得快ren paode kuai‘run as fast as a man’,踢足球好玩ti zuqiu haowan‘as funny as playing football’,小孩会演戏xiaohai huiyanxi‘as good at acting as children’.Semantically,the semantic structure of y MC is Thing/Event+y�'u+Scalar-value+Scalar-type.First,MS profiles a Thing or an Event.For a Thing profile,MS can either designate a measure property with specified Dimension,such as重量zhongliang‘weight’,面积mianji‘area’,空间kongjian‘space’,or an entity with measure property,such as重度污染的zhongduwuran de‘those heavily polluted’,�'�上的鲤鱼diaoshangde liyu‘the carp trolled from water’.For an Event profile,MS can either designate an activity(沈家煊2007),such as打�'球da paiqiu‘playing volleyball’,or the final state of an event,such as我们调转方向往回爬了women diaozhuan fangxiang wanghui pa le‘we turned around to climb back’,已经传了yijing chuan le‘has been rumored’.Second,y�'u designates a measure relation.Third,MO profiles a bounded measure value which consists of Scalar value and Scalar type.Scalar value can be divided into Numerical value,such as 10%,150吨150dun‘150 tons’,几个月jigeyue‘a few months’,and Reference value such as足球场zuqiuchang‘football field’,七、八层楼qibaceng lou‘seven to eight stories’,人跑得ren paode‘people run’,踢足球ti zuqiu‘playing football’.Scalar value can be expressed by adjectives or VPs with degree meaning,such as高gao‘high’,远yuan‘far’,快kuai‘fast’,会演戏huiyanxi‘good at acting’.Previous researches have yet to reach a consensus on y MC.First,there are different opinions about the part of speech of y�'u.One approach(林泰安1986;张敬源、张艺2012)argues that y�'u is a preposition,another approach(曹炜1987;张豫峰1998b)believes that y�'u is a verb,still another approach(庞加光2015)regards y�'u as a grounding elements.The previous researches mainly adopt a structuralist perspective,which leads to the situation in which the same linguistic observation is taken by opposite arguments as supporting evidence.Second,those researches has attributed too much semantic labels to y�'u,such as关系guanxi‘relation’,估量guliang‘estimate’,比较bijiao‘compare’,达到dadao‘achieve’,列举lieju‘list’,which makes the situation too complicated.Third,in previous literature the above example(3)is regarded as估量句guliangju‘estimate sentence’and example(4)as比较句bijiaoju‘comparative sentence’.One approach(张敬源、张艺2012)argues that the two are different structures,while another approach(张斌2010:570)regards them as the same structure.Besides,an approach(庞加光2015)believes that我一口气跑了有一千多米wo yikouqi paole y�'u yiqianduo mi‘The distance I ran without stopping is more than 1000m’and小王身高有一米八xiaowang shengao y�'u yimiba‘Xiaowang’s height is 1.8m’are different structures.Fourth,there are controversial views over the grammatical status of MO because of different understanding of its nature.Fifth,those studies(温锁林2012;王明月2014)that believe the semantic preference of MO is to express something large or great in number,is needed to be tested by more data.Sixth,for lack of systematic observations on linguistic data in previous researches,the structure and semantic features of MS has not received adequate attention.Seventh,the rules of component restriction are rarely observed in the literature.Eighth,the same holds true for the different distribution of component structures in Positive y MC and Negative y MC.In view of the above research status, we propose the following three research questions. First, what are the cognitive functions of the component structures in y MC? Second, how is the semantics of y MC is constructed? Third, what are the constraints for the component structures in y MC?For the above research questions,we propose an y MC assignment hypothesis.y MC is a measure construction,in which y�'u profiles a measure relation,MS profiles a measure property,and MO profiles a bounded measure value.y�'u assigns a bounded value represented by MO to MS,making MS boundarized.In Positive y MC,有refers to equivalent in measure,i.e.the value of measure property represented by MS is equivalent to the bounded measure value of MO;in Negative y MC,没有refers to less in measure,i.e.the value of measure property represented by MS is less than the bounded measure value of MO.In line with the above hypothesis,we build y MC A/D-alignment model to investigate the cognitive function of each component in y MC,the semantic construction process of y MC,and the cognitive motivation underlay the constraint for each component in y MC.This dissertation has the following findings:First, the cognitive function of y�'u is to profile a measure function by which the bounded measure value of MO makes MS boundarized. The cognitive function of MO is to profile a bounded measure value which can be represented by Numerical value or Reference value. The cognitive function of MS is to profile a measure property with specified Demension, or an entity with measure property.Second, the instances of y MC share a unified cognitive mechanism. y�'u profiles a measure relation stable at conceived time t, which has two schematic participants, tr and lm. The Numerical value or Reference value profiled by MO can elaborate the schematic lm as a specified Scalar value. The Thing or Event profiled by MS can elaborate the schematic tr as a specified measure property or an entity with measure property. By virtue of that process, y�'u maps MS to a value profiled by MO or to a value lower than that profiled by MO.Third, the constraint for component structures in y MC is associated with the dimension in their semantic structure. The difference in distribution pattern of the components in Positive y MC and Negative y MC is associated with the semantic profiles between the component structure and the composite structure, and the semantic profile between each component structure.